Aww Arty is awesome. She shouldn’t feel bad bout killing that ahole tho.. yay to sport master coming to help.

I enjoyed reading this side of Lawrence, it was a good story and well written.

Wow. Just found this in the archives. Powerful. Well done.

love this :D
this is how picture they're relationship or hope it be like this!

This...I never thought I could like Sportsmaster, but here...I love the caring father vibe he has. Best part is that it feels like a natural interaction. It's hard to describe, but it feels perfectly within his character, especially as her father, to act the way the did.

Good job. Most people don't acknowledge this more human side to Sportsmaster. Not to mention it was beautifully done in a perfect situation.

Aaaawwwe. Sad but awwwwwwe

I love the way you have Lawrence portrayed in here. Normally, a lot of writers have him as this (insert curse of choice here) who ruthlessly trains his daughter with no heart.

There's elements of that here, but I love the fact that he cares enough to make sure it won't be traced back to her and he tells her he loves her.

*squee* Great job!

I like Sportsmaster's character in the serie and I think you portrayed him on a new light :)

Great story. It shows that not all of her past was horrible. It was very realistic, I could picture everything but one thing and that was sportsmasters vehicle.

Thank u for sharing!

It's the real bastards that are scary sure you have psychos like Joker but it's not the same

Seems pretty self-defense to me, but the costume crowd may not see it that way

"My hands are shaking uncontrollably as I pull my phone out of my jeans. It slips between my fingers as I try to swallow down my sobs. "Fuck," I whisper, "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I fumble in the dark, knowing that swearing to nothing but the cold night air doesn't help anything, but at least it distracts me from crying. Don't be scared. Don't be sad. Be angry. Angry is safe.

Crawling on the ground, I really want my mom. I want to be eight years old with her brushing my hair and telling me stories. I want Jade to be helping me out and promising that she'll always be there for me no matter what" I loved that part esecially Don't be sad... angry is safe and how she wants her mom... no matter what

I loved how he told her he loves her and the end

Thanks so much for this I love showing that the villains do love their families, kind of hoping Artemis would say something like Jade made their dad read Alice in Wonderland to her/them for a long time

I will always prefer villains who at least have a point and frighteningly may even be right about everyone being better off under their benevolent dictatorship (of course make education great so the common man does know what is best for him and his children's children and democratic republicanism can work) like Ra's al Ghul if the environment isn't brought into balance no matter the means or cost the future for the human race will be worse than any dystopian fiction and will lead to the extinction of the human race not through misadventure but suicide through stupidity or Lex Luthor who as he says if he was calling all the shots could end famine and cure cancer and he could his mind is capable of anything perhaps give everyone ultra high-tech non polluting technology and maybe even superpowers (without the White Martians ancient experiments all humanity would be like the Kryptonians or Daxamites) lead humanity and the rest of the universe to unimaginable glory remember Red Son he united all humanity and led us to a golden age that lasted millions of years, no poverty, disease, war, crime, terrorism, or environmental problems and science and art advance, he’s about the advancement of the human race by any means necessary it’s not that he’s a good man he’s not but he’s right about most things he’s too smart not to be

A lot of villains seem unaware that if they used their mind and/or other talents for legitimate business causes or the government could be far more profitable than any crime spree

Luthor has fanatical Nietzschean beliefs, that Superman undermines humanity’s worth and accomplishments

Of course vigilantes can be sanctimonious hypocrites judging others and letting themselves go unscrutinized condemning others when they do the same thing for less reasons I think it is disgusting they don't share their scientific breakthroughs (of course inventors should be well compensated) with the scientific specifically medical community or their skills with law enforcement agencies far more good than beating up thugs and psychos fight crime at its source ignorance and poverty. I realize due to rarity and complexity mass production may not always be possible or at least cost effective and due to difficulty not all could take brutal training but a little bit could go a very, very long way. A hero doesn’t just save people a hero teaches the people to take care of themselves. The ability to think of future generations when calculating pragmatic utilitarianism is what separates us from the animals. The world is not the way it is because of thugs and psychopaths, corrupt businessmen/politicians (which contrary to fiction are the exception not the rule) but because most people are too stupid to know what is best for them the extreme left and extreme right get caught up in their ideals and refuse to acknowledge brutal facts of reality no real world understanding of the extreme complexities of politics, economics, technological logistics, and how they’re all interconnected in the long run. People want everything right here right now the whole world just handed to them on a silver platter think just by complaining something will happen without a tangible plan. Such a plan will require a lot of long, hard, boring work all day every day for generations.

There will always be some exploitation, the best and brightest will elevate themselves over the common man, it’s nature, best for the species, it improves the standard of living of the human race as a whole, as long as they don’t kill anyone or otherwise actively oppress, free trade and enterprise is the only thing that has ever led to long lasting meaningful peace

I'm glad the government has Suicide Squad, Cadmus, Checkmate, the Elite, Amanda Waller, and the new female Spy Smasher, Cameron Chase I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting accountability from Superheroes, having checks and balances on these living breathing weapons of mass destruction seems quite reasonable to me, one will go left when they should go right and innocent people will die it WILL happen, not saying black ops don’t have their necessity, they can be used as a force of good

Have you heard of The Boys

Say you’re Harry Truman do you drop the bombs or do you drown the home islands in the blood of U.S. Marines, BATMAN has no answer to that question, people hire soldiers so they never have to use moral courage themselves

Wow, this was AMAZING! So far, every story with Sportsmaster in it has portrayed him as a total ass who doesn't care about his family. But this was amazing in how he showed his emotions and the picture at the end of all of them being a family. Great work.

HERE I AM, ONCE AGAIN. I AM SO SORRY THAT I TOOK SO LONG CREYES I AM SUCH A BAD FRIEND BUT LIFE HAS BEEN SO CRAPTACULAR THAT I DON'T EVEN KNOW AND ALSO I AM AWFUL. Anyway. I really am sorry, though. Where was I going with this again?

Alright. So. Man, Annica. This was great. I just... I really liked this. It was so lovely and in character and I swear, HOW IS YOUR FIRST PERSON THIS GOOD, I JUST WANT TO STEAL YOUR TALENTS AND HIDE THEM UNDER MY BED. And the emotion in this piece was very raw, very real. I just... I don't know, lol.

Honestly it seemed like it took you a while to get started with this, but once you got going you got GOING. There are a few awkward parts in the beginning, such as:

/The venom in his voice and his absolute despise of us sends a chill down my body. /

Just, "his absolute despise"? What? I think I know what you're getting at, but I don't know, that sentence just kind of seemed very jarring to me, and it almost felt unnatural. The beginning is honestly one of the rougher parts, but man once you get past that it's great.

I loved how you made Sportsmaster behave like a /father/ and not just like this supervillain that happens to have blonde hair, like Artemis, though. That trope is so annoying and it deserves to be kicked in the face. This fic, however, doesn't deserve to be kicked in the face. (None of your fic deserves to be kicked in the face, actually. You go, Annica. Four for you, Annica)

And I really loved the passages that show that, like this one:

/His dark eyebrows are furrowed low over his eyes. People always say that I look like him. I used to love it when they said that. "Be careful, okay Artemis?"/

and

/I close my eyes and hug my pillow, a habit I picked up after Jade left. With my eyes scrunched shut and my mind closed off from everything else, I imagine I'm six years old, Dad's sitting on the end of my bed, telling Jade and I about one of his jobs, and Mom is standing by the doorway smiling at us. It's the middle of the night and I'm tired and him and Mom are both dirty and sweaty, but in that moment he's the strongest and most powerful and the best man in the world./

Just, thank you for that. I just love the imagery in the last one. It just sounds as fuzzy and warm as the Crock family (who are, admittedly, pretty fucked up from certain angles) gets, and I just loved the picture that that painted.

I also loved the illusion to Jade, like when Artemis was wishing that Jade was there. I just love the idea that Artemis' little sister instincts still spill over, that they're still lingering. That was genius. I rather adore when you write for this family-you hit every single layer of them just right. I really want you to write something with my girl Paula-maybe I should just give you my headcanon and make you write it, lol.

And, oddly enough, I liked the passage where you made Artemis cry. At first she's telling herself not to cry, but I love how she gives into that weakness. Because she would. Artemis just has a huge heart, and I think that that was a great way to show that.

It's been a very long time since I last felt this moved by a story I've read online. I mean, I can read a story and enjoy it with a regular sense of attachment, but for this, well, my heart rate sped up and I felt genuinely afraid for Artemis. I put myself in her shoes and felt her terror. Felt like I was there with her in that car, in that shed, felt her helplessness and her disgust and her remorse at disposing of her killer... and that final, helpless resort to turning to her father. It was just perfect. No other word for it. You set the mood and you made the emotions raw and real for me.

This was just a gorgeous piece of writing and character spotlight. There's nothing else to say but, wow.

Argh stop making me like him! It's not fair - I need /someone/ to hate and you're taking it all away!

Lovely story - filled with raw emotion. I liked the descriptions, and Artemis's mixed dialougue.

nice story. is it complete? cause im putting it on Alert and if it is...